Delos Santos on pace to breaking 2020 gold haul

James delos Santos is likely to surpass his gold medal output last year as he continues his reign as the top-rated karateka in the world.

With 15 events left, Delos Santos is aiming to win at least one more gold in any of those events and maybe beat last year’s haul before he thinks of going face-to-face with an opponent again.

Already the world No. 1 in men’s open, the 31-year-old Delos Santos on Tuesday added to his collection the 2021 Katana Intercontinental League #2 title—his 35th for this year.

“I’d love to compete face-to-face again,” said Delos Santos, a bronze medalist in the Southeast Asian Games. “But right now, I’m not focused on that yet.”

“I’m still one more gold away from tying with my record last year,” he said. “I think there are still less than 15 tournaments left for this year. I plan to compete in all of them.”

Delos Santos has established himself as the country’s gold medal machine in the time of pandemic. He even garnered a citation from the Philippine Sportswriters Association for his unusual feat.

“Right now, I’m still focusing on training and competing in the virtual tournaments,” he said. “I still stream in Kumu. I don’t want to just revolve my life around one activity. It’s good to be diverse. But let’s see how it goes.”

Before Tuesday’s win, Delos Santos scored back-to-back triumphs in the Katana Intercontinental League #1 and the E-Karate World Series. He felt he could have bettered his 2020 showing already had he not lost several tournaments.

“I’ll admit that I didn’t make a perfect streak this year. There were some tournaments I missed out on and losses as well,” he wrote on his Facebook page.